Major Partnership between the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) and the Child Mind Institute to Revamp Mental Health Care for Children and Youth across Greece
A new referral center for child mental health, training programs, and development of cutting-edge clinical technology will bring international best practices to the public sector in Greece, building system-wide capacity to meet needs on the ground.
An ambitious, new five-year project made possible by a landmark $15 million grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) will harness the power of public-private partnership to bring field-leading expertise in child and adolescent mental health from the U.S.-based Child Mind Institute to support and empower young people across Greece. In collaboration with the Greek Ministry of Health, the comprehensive specialist care and referral system the program seeks to establish will revolutionize children’s access to the care they need. The new grant is part of SNF’s $500 million-plus Health Initiative, which aims to help ensure access to quality care for everyone in Greece by strengthening and upgrading the country’s health system.
The program’s three primary prongs together provide capacity and infrastructure for evidence-based prevention, assessment, and treatment of mental health challenges facing children, aiming to offer ground-up resources that strengthen the critical work done by mental health and child protection providers across Greece.
“Every child deserves access to professional, compassionate, and dignified health care—including for mental health—and this program represents a significant first step in the effort toward a new paradigm for children’s mental health in Greece,” said SNF Co-President Andreas Dracopoulos. “The deep expertise that the Child Mind Institute, a respected global leader in the field, will share and further develop with Greek colleagues could contribute to the foundation of a systematic, evidence-based approach to addressing real needs in the country, with a focus on younger generations.”
First, the program will offer rigorous training to better equip professionals working with children to identify and prevent behavioral health issues, as well as to help medical professionals treat them. In addition to training, ongoing clinical supervision will be available to mental health professionals, as will a consultation helpline for health care providers at the three new hospitals being built in Greece through SNF’s Health Initiative. Second, the program will establish a Referral Center for Child Mental Health to enhance national capacity for assessing and caring for acute and complex cases, both via direct clinical support to children and families and by developing networks of consultation and case co-work with hospitals and mental health providers throughout the country. Third, it will build out technological capacity for tele-mental health provision and specialized online tools for both families and clinicians.
SNF has been a steadfast supporter of the Child Mind Institute since its founding, partnering to address challenges to child mental health for over a decade. SNF’s grants helped establish the Institute’s cutting-edge research team, launch the Healthy Brain Network study, deliver trauma trainings to mental health professionals in Baltimore, and bring critical mental health and wellness services to school communities in New York City...